Why You Should List on Both Amazon Product Ads and Amazon Marketplace

Amazon Product Ads and Amazon Marketplace – A Solid Strategy

In the game of eCommerce, conversations always seem to lead toward Google. But here’s the funny thing about that – more customers start their search on Amazon than anywhere else. Realizing that, doesn’t it make sense that Amazon become a significant part of your eCommerce strategy?

Of course it does. But how, exactly, can you incorporate Amazon into your strategy? Well, there are two ways that merchants can advertise their products on Amazon:

The Marketplace (which is a cost-per-acquisition program)

Product ads (a cost-per-click program)

Many merchants try to choose one or the other for their strategies, as if these programs are mutually exclusive. And sure, in a way they are; however, rather than throw all of your eggs into one basket, the wisest choice is to list on both, Amazon Product Ads and Amazon Marketplace. Here’s why:

What is Amazon Marketplace and Why Should I List There?

Amazon Marketplace is a place for third-party sellers (like you) to offer items on Amazon for sale. Merchants pay a commission per sale, in order to enjoy the benefit of listing their products for display to the more than 80 million monthly visitors that Amazon has. Your listings, as a Marketplace Merchant, are displayed prominently on the right-hand side of the product page, under “More Buying Choices.”

The way it works is that Amazon deducts the fees for the transaction and places the balance in your account. Users usually aren’t even aware that they’re buying from a third-party seller, because the entire transaction takes place on Amazon. This has its benefits, as many customers have a sense of trust and familiarity with Amazon. However, it does rob you of some much-helpful customer data – something many sellers have a hard time accepting.

There is a way, however, to sell to the 80 million monthly (and motivated) Amazon visitors without paying a commission on every transaction or being forced to sell through the Amazon site. And that way is called Product Ads.

Why it’s Worthwhile to List on Amazon Product Ads

Firstly, we should make it known that there are times when a seller can’t list products on the Amazon Marketplace, including:

Gated categories

Feeds without UPC codes

In these cases, Amazon Product Ads is a fantastic alternative. However, even if you can sell products on the Amazon Marketplace, you should still give Product Ads another look. Here’s why.

Rather than pay per transaction (as in the Marketplace), with Product Ads you’re buying ads on Amazon’s site pages that link directly back to your own product pages. What this means is that customers will know that they’re buying from you, since the transaction doesn’t happen on Amazon.

This could have a negative effect, as some consumers are wary of being taking off a trustworthy site such as Amazon. But, it can also have a positive effect as well. By making the transaction take place on your own site, you are now able to retain consumer data which you can use for future sales and marketing.

With Product Ads, you pay per click, based on bids, rather than commission, and your ads appear on the lower part of the product pages, under “Product ads from external websites.”

More Than One Basket For Your eCommerce Eggs

When developing your eCommerce strategy, it only makes sense that you’d find a way to incorporate Amazon into the mix. A basic tenet of advertising is you go where your customers are – and your customers are on Amazon. But managing your Amazon accounts takes time, data analysis and more. It’s likely advantageous for you to utilize both Amazon Product Ads and Amazon Marketplace in your strategy, but how? How can you ensure that the time and money spent in this arena will pay off with a high return on investment? OperationROI can help. Call us at 1-888-277-5429 or fill out our contact form to learn how we can help you make the most out of Amazon.

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3 Comments

I just wanted to let you know I found your article on Amazon Product Ads to be very informative.

The loss of branding when using an Amazon store has always been a negative impact since the transaction isn’t happening on the store’s site. This will definitely improve my Amazon affiliate product knowledge!

Do you happen to know if there is a policy that says an advertiser is not allowed to list in marketplace and product ads? I have heard that Amazon is against this but I cannot find anywhere in the policy that states this.

There is no policy that says advertisers cannot be listed in both places. As a matter of fact, many times when we setup a client on Amazon Product Ads, the marketplace team contacts our clients to get the on the marketplace side as well. If you do choose to list on both places, there are certain strategies to leverage to make sure you get the best ROI possible.